Written Answers Tuesday 16 January 2007

Scottish Executive

Drug Misuse

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what operations have been undertaken by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency in the Milton area of Glasgow since 2000.

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what operations undertaken by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency since 2000 have focused on the operations of the Chirnsyde Community Initiative and its management.

Cathy Jamieson: Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) operations are national in nature, concentrating on tackling serious crime which affects more than one force area in Scotland. Any operational activity undertaken by the agency in the Milton area of Glasgow would be part of a wider investigation rather than focussing specifically on that geographical area. However, it would be inappropriate to disclose details of such operational activity as to do so would risk jeopardising the work carried out by the SCDEA by revealing potentially sensitive information particularly in relation to on-going operations.

European Council

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23043 by Mr Tom McCabe on 2 March 2006, in which European Council meetings its ministers have led the UK delegation during 2006, broken down by (a) minister, (b) subject discussed and (c) decisions taken.

Mr Tom McCabe: The following table provides details of meetings of the Council of Ministers of the European Union in 2006 where the UK delegation was led by a Scottish Executive minister.

  

 Date, Council and Lead Minister
 Subject Discussed
 Decisions Taken


19 May 2006:
Education, Youth and Culture Council (Brussels)
Peter Peacock (led in Education part)
1. European Initiative on Language Competence
2. Recommendation on Key competences for Lifelong Learning
3. European Quality Charter for Mobility for education and training purposes
4. Financial aspects of the Lifelong Learning Programme
5. Contribution of education to sustainable development
1. Conclusions adopted
2. Agreement on a general approach to the text of the Recommendation
3. General approach agreed
4. Exchange of views held
5. Policy debate held


21 February 2006:
Justice and Home Affairs Council:
Cathy Jamieson (led the afternoon session)
1. Rome II. Discussion on a proposal to regulate which country’s laws should apply to a dispute with an international element concerning a non- contractual obligation
2. Directive on Data Retention
3. Discussions on the European Evidence Warrant
4. Procedural consequences of the judgement of the Court of Justice in Case  C-176/B
5. National asylum services of member states
6. Safe Countries of Origin
7. Green paper on European Migration Network
1. Ministers held an exchange of views
2. Directive adopted
3. No formal decision but informal agreement on certain aspects
4. Internal Council procedure agreed
5. Commission communication welcomed
6. Ministers held an exchange of views
7. Ministers held an exchange of views

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations have taken place in Scotland on the regulation of non-medical healthcare professions, as proposed in the Foster report.

Mr Andy Kerr: Four stakeholder events were held across Scotland - regional events in Aberdeen, Glasgow and the Borders, and a national event in Edinburgh. These events discussed the consultation paper issued by the Department of Health (DH) in England on the recommendations from Andrew Foster’s review of the regulation of non-medical health care professions, and from Sir Liam Donaldson’s review of medical regulation. The events informed the Scottish Executive response to the DH consultation.

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations it had with Department of Health officials on drafting the Foster report on the regulation of non-medical health care professions.

Mr Andy Kerr: Mr Paul Martin, Chief Nursing Officer and Interim Director of Workforce, was a member of the Foster Group and, in that capacity, commented on the draft report before it was finalised.

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what organisations were involved in consultations on drafting the Foster report on the regulation of non-medical health care professions.

Mr Andy Kerr: The group which took forward the review of the regulation of the non-medical health care professions, led by Andrew Foster at the Department of Health (DH) in England, included representatives from DH and the other UK health departments, including Paul Martin, Chief Nursing Officer and Interim Director of Workforce at the Scottish Executive Health Department. Other bodies represented were the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Health Professions Council, the General Dental Council, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and NHS employers. The group also benefited from a reference group of around 100 members, which met in two conferences. It received wide input from over 100 responses to a "call for ideas" from significant groups representing patients, professionals, employers and regulators. It took oral evidence from regulatory bodies and from Which? magazine. It commissioned research into public understanding and expectations of professional regulation, and information about the regulation of staff in other sectors with safety-critical work, including in social care and education. DH also commissioned research about the regulation of health professionals in other countries, which the group used in its work.

Health

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list any dates and times when any one of the three accident and emergency (A&E) units in Lanarkshire have been unable to accept any more patients or when they have referred patients to other A&E units in each of the last 12 months, also indicating for how long on each occasion this situation existed.

Mr Andy Kerr: This is a matter for NHS Lanarkshire. The information requested is not held centrally.

Housing

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children will be in temporary accommodation this Christmas.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive collects snapshot data on the number of households in temporary accommodation at the end of each quarter, including information on households with dependent children. Data on the use of temporary accommodation are available online in the publications section of the Scottish Executive statistics reference site at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/PubHomeless .

  Information on numbers in temporary accommodation on 31 December 2006 will be published as part of a routine statistical release on 13 March 2007.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the highest social housing rents in each local authority area.

Rhona Brankin: The information requested is not held centrally. Available information on local authority and housing association rents by local authority is as follows:

  
The Scottish Executive collects and publishes data on average local authority rents. We do not collect information on rents by size of property. Larger properties will have higher rents than the average. The most recent information can be found online at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/07092332/0.
Communities Scotland collects information on average housing association rents by property size within each local authority area. This can be found on the Communities Scotland website at: http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/cs_016307.hcsp#TopOfPage. Table R2 is the most relevant in this case.
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy collects and publishes more detailed information on local authority rents by size of property in an annual report Housing rents and service charges statistics. Details of this report can be found online at: http://www.cipfastats.net/housing/housingrentsservicecharges/default.asp.

Justice

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards it is considering implementing to ensure that criminal organisations are unable to run publicly funded initiatives and thus receive large amounts of public monies.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Executive is not presently considering the implementation of any further safeguards in this area. The Executive requires that applications for funding are scrutinised; that appropriate terms and conditions are attached to awards of funding and that procedures are in place to monitor compliance and performance. The Executive will, of course, continue to develop its procedures in line with audit recommendations and best practice.

Legislation

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Sewel or legislative consent motions it has lodged in each year since May 1999.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information requested is available online at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/legConMem/index.htm .

NHS Contracts

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what events its officials or representatives have attended where Serco was also represented; what the content was of any discussions that took place between it and Serco at these events, and what the outcome was of any such discussions.

Mr Andy Kerr: Events at which Scottish Executive officials or representatives have attended where Serco was also represented include the following:

  
Officials from Justice Department, Community Justice Services Division, attended two events in 2006 where discussions focussed on electronic monitoring and which were also attended by representatives from Serco: opening of the electronic monitoring centre in East Kilbride - arranged by Serco in November 2006, and an electronic monitoring conference – outcome of research project carried out by the University of Leeds – sponsored by Group 4 Securicor also in November 2006.
Officials from Change and Corporate Services, Facilities and Estate Services had delegate representation at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance in Scotland (CIPFA), Annual Procurement Seminar on 7 December 2006 where a Serco (Consulting) speaker discussed "Collaboration, Efficiency and Effectiveness".


  The Scottish Executive was also represented at an international conference in China on social innovation on 16 October 2006, an event jointly organised between the British Council, the Young Foundation and the China Centre for Comparative Politics and Economics, where Serco was represented also.

  Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service officials from Ayrshire attended a number of events or meetings where Serco employees were also present: a meeting between the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service area business manager for Ayrshire, and representatives of Strathclyde Police, Scottish Courts Service and Bowhouse Prison, Kilmarnock to discuss preparedness in the event of pandemic flu and contingency planning; a meeting between a Procurator Fiscal Depute and Serco employees when undertaking a locus inspection of a case related to Bowhouse Prison; a Community Justice conference in Crieff attended by the Procurator Fiscal Depute where Serco were also represented, and a conference on alcohol abuse attended by the District Procurator Fiscal, Ayr, also attended by Serco employees.

  In addition, Serco is contracted to provide soft facilities management in a number of NHSScotland facilities under PPP/PFI contract. Health Department officials facilitated a number of meetings during 2006 between the health trade unions, Business Services Association (PPP/PFI employers association), NHS employers and Serco to discuss and resolve contractual arrangements for former NHSScotland staff. Agreement was reached towards the end of 2006.

NHS Contracts

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all its or NHS Scotland’s events that have attracted sponsorship from Serco, giving details of any such sponsorship.

Mr Andy Kerr: No Scottish Executive events have attracted sponsorship by Serco. Information on NHSScotland events that have attracted sponsorship is not held centrally.

NHS Contracts

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive why it has stated publicly that NHS Lanarkshire had to tender primary care services at Harthill openly, as reported in The Herald on 19 December 2006.

Mr Andy Kerr: NHS Lanarkshire has a statutory responsibility to secure primary medical services for the patients of the Harthill GP practice. The decision by the partners in the existing Harthill practice to dissolve their partnership left the board with no alternative but to seek a new provider.

Non-Domestic Rates

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has precluded the possibility of setting business rates at rates lower than those in the rest of the United Kingdom.

Mr Tom McCabe: The average rates bill per subject in Scotland is already significantly lower than the average rates bill per subject in England, and that has been the position since devolution. The estimates for 2006-07 are £9,284 and £10,601 respectively. As I announced to Parliament on 13 December 2006, we are cutting the poundage rate for Scotland in 2007-08 to the same level as in England. Our number one priority is to grow the Scottish economy and this latest cut will give businesses in Scotland a further competitive boost.

Non-Domestic Rates

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much less revenue would have accrued through business rates had the uniform rate with the rest of the United Kingdom been adhered to since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: As there is no uniform business rate across the United Kingdom, it is not possible to provide the information requested. Rateable values are determined separately for Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as are poundage rates. The position is further complicated for Northern Ireland where businesses pay a national rate and a local rate.

Sexual Health

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to educate young people about the risks of contracting HIV/AIDS.

Mr Andy Kerr: The National Sexual Health Strategy Respect and Responsibility , published in January 2005, includes a number of recommendations on the importance of educating the general public, including young people, on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections such as HIV/AIDS.

  NHS boards are delivering education through their locally appointed health promotion managers. In addition, information on HIV is included within the Sexual Health and Relationships Education (SHARE) programme in secondary schools as part of the work with young people on sexually transmitted infections looking at risk and protection. The Healthy Respect Schools Sexual Relationships Education Framework also includes sessions on HIV for those schools in Lothian not delivering SHARE or for those who want to deliver more than SHARE.

Special Advisors

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any special advisers have made use of an official car in the last 12 months, excluding travel when accompanying a minister.

Mr Tom McCabe: No. Special advisors do not have an entitlement to use the cars operated by the Government Car Service unless accompanying someone who has that entitlement.

Warm Deal

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why there was a reduction in the number of installations under the tender for the Warm Deal programme from 6,500 to 3,000 after Scottish Gas was awarded the contract.

Rhona Brankin: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  There has been no reduction in the number of installations under the Warm Deal programme after Scottish Gas was awarded the contract. The tender document, provided to Scottish Gas, contains details on the available Warm Deal budget for 2006-07 and 2007-08. The target number of installations in each year is based on the available resources, the average grant cost and the management fee.

  As part of the tender process Scottish Gas indicated that, in 2006-07 it would install 3,062 Warm Deal measures and in 2007-08 it would install 4,976 Warm Deal measures.

Warm Deal

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many insulation jobs it estimates will be undertaken under the Warm Deal programme between April 2006 and April 2007.

Rhona Brankin: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  
Across all sectors of the housing stock, the estimated number of Warm Deal installations to be undertaken between April 2006 and March 2007 is 17,500.

Warm Deal

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the number of insulation installations under the Warm Deal are being reduced from 17,700 in the 18 months from April 2005 to less than 3,000 in the 18 months from October 2006.

Rhona Brankin: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  
In the 12 months from April 2006 to March 2007 the target number of households to benefit from Warm Deal measures across all sectors is 17,500, an increase of 2,000 over the corresponding period. We do not, as yet, have a profile of installations for the first six months of 2007-08.

Warm Deal

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what input Scottish Gas had to the decision to reduce the number of insulation installations under the Warm Deal programme after the tender was awarded.

Rhona Brankin: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  
On a like-for-like basis there is no reduction on the number of Warm Deal installations undertaken. The target number of Warm Deal installations to be carried out in 2006-07 and 2007-08 is 5,000.

Warm Deal

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the number of heating and insulation installations under the Warm Deal programme has fallen significantly in the last two years.

Rhona Brankin: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The number of central heating and warm deal installations over the last two full years are shown in the following tables:

  

 Year
 Central Heating Installations


 2004-05
 13,022


 2005-06
 14,047



  The number of Warm Deal measures installed over the last two years has decreased relative to the number of installations undertake in 2003-04. The figures are shown in the following table:

  

 Year
 Warm Deal Installations


 2004-05
 14,953


 2005-06
 15,499



  Both programmes show a year on year increase.

Warm Deal

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what restrictions it placed on Eaga in relation to highlighting the number of installations under the Warm Deal programme.

Rhona Brankin: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  
In terms of the then managing agent contract, Eaga was set targets for the number of installations and was subject to budgetary control arrangements.